🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct5.190709.17067@guinness.idbsu.edu> holmes@opal.idbsu.edu (Randall Holmes) writes:
>
>This requires explanation.  I think that _everything_ has "qualia", in
>Cahlmers's sense of having a "bare experiential feel".  Consciousness,
>for me, has something to do with "knowing oneself" to some extent.  I
>would recognize any system which maintains an internal model of its
>own activity and can provide answers to queries about same as
>(minimally) conscious.  Note that consciousness does not necessarily
>go with being terribly bright.
>

      I would agree with you that possession of an internal model of itself
is a good criterion for consciousness, since at least in living beings this
is associated with attempts to survive. The content of the model is directed
toward insuring the survival of that which is modeled, i.e. the self.
Moreover, I would suggest that qualia (as a concept) might be defined as
primitive terms in this survival-model. "Bare experiential feel" as much
as one dislikes the vagueness of this term, probably refers to assessments
of the survival-probability -- as per the content of the self-model -- in
the situation which is being experienced.

      Your suggestion that computer programs model themselves, in this or
any other way, however, strikes me as farfetched. To create a coherent
model of any type, I would suggest it is necessary to have a purpose which
that model serves. This provides a means for prioritizing and organizing
the data in the model. Thus without even criticizing the obvious point
that all computer programs have a 'bottom level' which is simply a set
of conditionals relating input to output, no computer program could have
a purpose with respect to _itself_, which would (by my definition) exclude
any possibility of consciousness.

>-- 
>The opinions expressed		|     --Sincerely,
>above are not the "official"	|     M. Randall Holmes
>opinions of any person		|     Math. Dept., Boise State Univ.
>or institution.			|     holmes@opal.idbsu.edu



      John E. Snodgrass [snodgras@cyber.net]